


C is for Challenge

by Sunshinegrimes



Series: Letters from Hell's Kitchen [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Cuddles, Domestic Defenders, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Everyone is Poly because Defenders, F/M, Jessica has a drinking problem, M/M, Matt Murdock is supportive, Multi, Poly Defenders, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Recovery, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Spoilers For The Defenders, The Defenders (Marvel TV) Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, injury mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 18:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16815826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshinegrimes/pseuds/Sunshinegrimes
Summary: Part 3 of my Poly Defenders series. Set after the events of the show.----“I knew things were going to be…different, when we all moved in together. Having a relationship wasn’t really on my to-do list, let alone sharing my life, and an apartment, with 3 other people. Maybe we’re all better off for it, I know having someone back home to relocate a shoulder, or stitch up a stab wound certainly helps."In which Matt contemplates the benefits of sharing a bed with the others, and Jess examines her feelings towards the rest of the group.----*SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE SEASON*





	C is for Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3 of my Poly Defenders series (Matt/Jess)
> 
> In this series, Matt was rescued from the rubble at the end of the incident at Midland Circle. Months later, the Defenders are now in a happy, polyamorous relationship. Each chapter will explore a different facet of their new lives together. I hope you enjoy it! :)
> 
> Lots of cuddly, domestic bed sharing to follow. You have been warned!

What was the biggest challenge in having a relationship with 3 other people? If you asked Matt's opinion, it was sleeping in the same bed.  
  
It had quickly become clear, the first night they had all tumbled into Matt's generously sized double, that when it came to sleeping patterns, they all had different needs in order to get comfortable. Danny had listened to them shift restlessly for all of 5 minutes before deciding to pick up his phone and order an Emperor sized bed, before placing a small apologetic kiss on Matt's head and promising that _yes Matt,_ it had silk sheets. Everyone had sighed with relief at that, and Danny had gotten an extra kiss from all of them, before they nodded off one by one.  
  
You see, Matt tended to stretch out, laying in such a way that would benefit whatever part of him was currently bruised or on the mend. He was not opposed to cuddling up to whomever was closest to him, and didn't mind being the little or big spoon depending on where and who he was sleeping next to. When he lay, tucked up against one of the others, he could focus on their pulse and their steady breathing and let that carry him off to sleep. When he broadened his hearing, he could hear all of them, their hearts and lungs drumming and breathing out of sync with one another, but forming their own pattern together. They would join the collective hum of the entire building, an urban forest tempo of white noise that Matt found easier to sleep to than the solemn lack of it.  
  
Luke was an entirely different story. Being the largest physically out of all of them, and with his tendency to sleep like the dead, this meant that he took up the most room. This also meant that when he was away, they all felt the loss of his presence hardest. Luke's preferred style of sleeping was to wrap himself around the person (or persons) that were closest to him like a human octopus and hold them close, as though trying to shield them even while he was asleep. In the early stages of his recovery from Midland Circle, Matthew had woken up from many nightmares and aching muscles to the welcome wrap of his arms. Luke was warm as well, like a human radiator, and so as the months grew colder, they all cuddled up to get a piece of him, one on either side and a lucky coin toss to decide who got to stretch out on his broad, warm chest. Luke loved their antics, and would jest about getting up for a drink or go to the bathroom to feel all of them tighten their holds and protest feebly so's not to lose his body heat. Even in the summer months, when his outrageous temperature meant Matt would wake up sweaty and hot for more reasons than one, they would just opt for sleeping with a lighter sheet or simply forgo blankets entirely.  
  
Danny, on the other hand, had two primary modes of getting to sleep. The first, if there was only one of them in bed with him, was that he also wrapped himself around the other person with a determination that rivalled Luke. The second, if there were more of them, was to sprawl in an elegant stretch of limbs so he could remain in contact with all of them even just the smallest amount. Whether it was their hand in his own, his face pressed to their back, or a foot resting against their calf, he would always find a way of contorting himself to fit around them. This, coupled with the fact that was he was a ridiculously light sleeper and took forever to drift off, meant that no one could sneak away unnoticed. With Danny, even so much as turning over, meant he would wake to squirm his way back into contact with whoever had moved. Matthew supposed that after all his years of sleeping alone in Kun Lun, that Danny revelled in being part of such a warm and inviting bed with all of them surrounding him. Matt also knew that it helped him feel safe, a way of making sure he knew where his lovers were, and that they would always be within reach if they needed him.  
  
Jessica, out of all of them, was the easiest to share a bed with. She was not a sprawler, or overly clingy, or much of a light sleeper. Jessica rarely slept unless she was absolutely exhausted. When she was working, she regularly ran herself ragged, and always managed to find things to do or a reason to be up late on her laptop or her phone. As a consequence, she would 9/10 times be the last to join them, but always the fastest to fall asleep. She would hit the bed, sigh with relief, and fall into unconsciousness before she could say another word. On a bad night, when she fell asleep at the table or on their sofa, she would be carried to bed by Luke or coaxed to take those few dozen steps between Matt and Danny. However, on her more sober nights, she would climb up carefully, and slide herself into the smallest of spaces between their bodies.  
  
Tonight had been a bad night. Awake, sandwiched under Luke’s arm and with Danny pressed to his back, Matt had been restless for hours. Two floors below, their neighbour, Robert, was watching the 2am news, having just got back from his shift as a bouncer. Across the street, a woman with a fever sweated and moaned as her husband brought her medicine. On the other side of the screen door, Matt could hear Jessica clicking and tapping away on her laptop, and smell the occasional warm burst of scotch permeating the air as she worked her way through the bottle. Matt could tell, on nights like these, when Jessica was reaching the end of her tether. She would sigh more often, and her smooth keystrokes would become lacklustre, more jagged. A particularly irritated stab at the Enter key sounded like an axe splitting logs, and the sharp click of her teeth around a hangnail reverberated in his ears.  
  
Matt began to slowly unwind himself, not wanting to leave the warmth of his bed or his partners, but his concern for Jessica won out overall. As soon as he had begun to peel back the covers, Danny immediately woke, and let out a quiet, inquiring hum.

“Shh, I’m going to see Jess.”

“You want me to help?” Danny started to move, but Matt shushed him back down into sleep, pressing a kiss between his brows and tucked the duvet back over them both.  
  
As he slid the door open and stepped out into the coolness of their living space, Matt honed in on Jessica, sat with her back to him, on one of the comfy armchairs by the coffee table. She heard him approach, as he made no effort to quieten his steps or surprise her, and her fingers paused in typing for the briefest of seconds. Still, she didn’t acknowledge him until he came to crouch by the arm of the chair.  
  
“Hey, are you not tired yet?” He tried with a smile, listening to the way Jessica snorted and shook her head.

“The nights just beginning, Murdock.” She drawled, setting her bottle down on the coffee table and turning more in her chair to face him. It was a deliberate faux pas, Matt knew she knew exactly what time it was.

“Are you coming to bed?” He knew she would, eventually, if he asked, but some nights took longer than others.

“I just wanna finish this. It won’t take long” She gestured vaguely towards the laptop, her words held conviction, but her tone held a note of exasperation.

“Can’t it wait until morning?” Matt tilted his head, and his hand came to rest beside hers. His palm faced up, fingers spread in an open invitation. Matt knew better than to go about grabbing her these days.  
  
Jessica debated his offer for a few seconds, before reaching out to trace her fingertip over his palm instead, testing the waters, as she would say. The first time Matt had kissed her, he had asked her permission first. She had rolled her eyes and dragged him closer with both hands, for a kiss that ended in a lot more. Now, they played their relationship in reverse, with the smallest, most chaste gestures meaning the most.  
  
“I guess it could wait.” Jessica hummed, and set her laptop down on the coffee table. She extracted her hand from where it had been doodling on his own and took another swig from the almost empty bottle by her side. “You gonna carry me?” Jess asked sarcastically, and to his credit, Matt actually proceeded to adjust his posture, ready to lift her if that was what she wanted. “No way, I might not have your super hearing, but we both know you screwed up your back fighting that group of pig-mask weirdos on the subway today.” Jess stood, walking past Matt to the kitchen, where she put away her bottle in the cupboard.

Matt smiled fondly at the gesture, glad that she had taken to doing that instead of dumping them on any available flat surface. Matt had forever been gathering them up, attempting to subtly put them away on one single shelf. He, as well as the others, would do it when Jess wasn’t around, not wanting to offend her on what was clearly a force of habit. However, one day, Matt had heard Jess return from a liquor store, walk straight over to the cupboard, and slowly, deliberately, put the bottles away in his presence. Matt had aimed a smile in her direction, and she must have been watching him as she did it, as her pulse rose by a few notches, and she snorted a laugh through her nose.

Now, Matt was standing upright as Jess made her way closer to him. She leaned forward, and kissed his cheek, before taking his hand and guiding him back towards their room. Matt followed close behind, his fingers laced in her own until Jess broke away to shimmy out of her jeans, tossing those and her shirt into the hamper in the corner. On the bed, Danny was awake again, and he disentangled himself from Luke to let them back in under the duvet. Jess got in first, sandwiching herself between Luke and Danny. She threw an arm over Danny’s chest, and rested it on Matt’s shoulder, who had curled up against Danny’s other side. Behind Jess, Luke rolled over to press up against her back, nudged a kiss to her hair, and slid a hand past her onto Danny’s hip without even waking up. Lastly, Matt curled his fingers around Luke’s strong wrist, and he tucked his nose against Danny’s soft, curly hair. Now all in contact with one another, they could finally relax again. Amidst their shuffling, Matt heard Jess mumble some kind of thanks to him, before she was truly passed out surrounded by all of their warm bodies.

In the morning, Matt woke to the sound of Jess snoring softly next to his ear, and Danny and Luke in the kitchen. Matt smiled a little, a sleepy, lopsided grin as he turned his head towards Jess. She wasn’t spooned up to him, but she had definitely scooted over to steal the space that Danny had left behind. Her arm was tucked behind her head, and her hair was all over her face, moving slightly as she breathed. Matt stretched his toes out, and as he turned to lay on his back, he felt a twinge run up his spine. Yep, the pig-mask assholes really had messed up his back. They had come at him with claw hammers and crow bars, out of their minds with some kind of enhancement drug. It had taken longer than it should have to finally knock them all out, and Matt had been pleased to be above ground again once the goons had been taken care of.

The pain had caused a hiss to escape from him, and before Matt could catch it, he heard Jess’ snoring stop. A second later, he heard the gentle sweep of her eyelashes, opening against her cheeks.

“You’re getting old, Murdock. Maybe it’s about time you threw in the towel.” Jess was smirking, he could hear it in her voice. It was a playful jest, nothing more, as Matt felt Jess prop herself up on one elbow and blow her fringe out of her face. Her tone was quietly concerned so that the others couldn’t hear. “Is it bad? Maybe you should get it checked out.”

“I’m okay, really.” Matt reassured her, once again turning his hand palm side up on the sheets between them. “And if I’m getting old, wait until I tell Danny and Luke you’re getting soft, fussing over me.”

“Oh, you do not want to play this game with me, Murdock.” Jess was back to grinning, and like the night before, began tracing her fingers over his palm. “I think they both know who the real mother hen is around here.”

“It’s Danny, right?” Matt pretended to play innocent, and Jess shut him briefly up with a small kiss, which only caused him to smile harder. “Luke?” He guessed again.

“Stop being facetious. We don’t even get to stub our toes around here without you reaching for the first-aid kit.”

“That’s a serious injury, I’ll have you know. Clearly, whoever owns this place has no respect for health and safety guidelines.”

“You’re right.” Jess humoured him, rubbing a foot against his calf beneath the duvet. She was trying not to crack, but she never quite had the patience to stay in character for long. “I’m going to sue the hell out of you, Murdock. You’re finished, I’ll have you begging with a hat and a harmonica on the street by midnight.”

“Who’s begging on the street?” Luke enquired from the doorway. Jess flipped herself over onto her back, letting go of Matt’s hand and stretching her arms above her head. Matt stayed on his side, giving Jess the space, but also aiming a smile in Luke’s direction.

“Matt, or he soon will be. He’s being negligent, creating a hazardous work environment.”

“Well for a so-called hazardous work environment, you sure look comfortable.” Luke ribbed her gently, coming to sit on the edge of the bed and scooping up one of her feet. Luke rubbed his thumbs against the sole of her foot in lazy circles, and Jess practically purred from the easy contact. “Danny’s making waffles, with those cherries we picked up yesterday.”

“That sounds amazing, does he need any help?” Matt yawned into his hand, and tilted his head, trying to hear whether or not Danny was struggling with the preparations. As it turns out, he was doing alright, and Matt heard the soft swishing sounds of Danny’s thumb moving up and down on his cell phone screen between steps. He was using an online recipe, and Matt wondered if it was the same one from their 3-month anniversary as a polyamorous relationship (which Jess had proclaimed was stupid, as according to her, you should only count years, not months).

“I think he’s got things under control.” Luke tucked Jess’ foot back under the blankets, and let himself be tugged down for a kiss from both of them, his stubble a warm rasp against Matt’s cheek. Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the kitchen, and Danny started to swear as the scent of undercooked waffle batter, mixed with cherries, and smoke, filled the air. “Scratch that, definitely not under control. I’ll handle that.” As Luke hurried back out into the kitchen, Matt could hear Danny hurriedly explain that he had thought something was off about the iron, that he had seen sparks coming from the end of the cord. Between Luke’s laughter, and the sound of things being moved out of the splatter zone, he could also hear Danny promising would buy them a new one as soon as he cleared up the mess. Slow, and smug, Jess turned her head to face Matt again, and before she could utter a word about Danny now suing him, Matt beat her to it.

“I know what you’re going to say, so don’t.”

“Oh, so now you’re psychic too?” She teased, only now, she was scooting closer, trying to give him an apologetic kiss. Matt didn’t stop her, he wouldn’t deny her anything, and they only broke the kiss when Jess put a finger on his lips. She sighed heavily, sounding the tiniest bit frustrated, and Matt stayed quiet, letting her speak her mind. “I’m glad you’re looking out for us, Matt. I know it’s annoying when you have to keep getting up to drag me off to bed. I know I’m cranky, and that I shouldn’t drink so much because it makes me an asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to not be a burden, I’d love to just crawl into bed, shut my eyes and get some decent sleep like everyone else. I just can’t switch off sometimes.”

Matt listened, before tentatively reaching up and taking Jess’ hand. He kissed her knuckles, before drawing it away from his mouth and giving it a firm squeeze in both of his own. “You’re not annoying, Jess.” He said simply, and upon hearing her inhale, he continued quickly before she could interrupt him. “You’re not, and you’re not the only one who can’t sleep. Yeah, maybe you do work too hard, and drink too much. Maybe you’re even a bit of an asshole, when you drink my favourite coffee, or use up most of the hot water, but you’re not a burden to any of us. Not to me, not to Luke, or Danny.” Matt paused just long enough for his words to sink in, then recalled something Luke had said on their 3-month anniversary. “We’re all damaged in different ways…”

“…But we all fit together just fine.” Jess finished for him. She sighed again, ran a hand through her hair and blinked away the moisture in her eyes. “I knew things were going to be…different, when we all moved in together. Having a relationship wasn’t really on my to-do list, let alone sharing my life, and an apartment, with 3 other people. Maybe we’re all better off for it, I know having someone back home to relocate a shoulder, or stitch up a stab wound certainly helps. I don’t know, I’m just…” Jess trailed off, and Matt’s heart squeezed as Jess struggled to articulate her emotions. He wrapped her hand more securely in his own, and placed it against his chest, letting her feel the slow, and steady pulse beneath her fingers.

“Me too, Jess. Me too.”

Sleeping in the same bed definitely had its challenges, but it definitely wasn’t a hardship. It was true what Jess said. If you had asked Matt last year whether he could see himself feeling happy, and supported, in a relationship with three other people, he probably would have laughed. In the past, he had struggled to commit to a relationship, always holding something back. To the ordinary person, Matt had been forced to hide his abilities, or his past, and struggled to keep a lid on the darker emotions surrounding vigilantism.

Now, he didn’t have to hide a thing. Matt loved, and was loved in return, in this vibrant and intricate relationship they had crafted together. Matt could have good days, and bad days, but the other three remained a constant in his world. He could use his abilities freely, talk about his upbringing without shame, and never once felt judged for ‘letting the devil out’, as he used to say. Like the rest of his partners, his ‘Other Life’, had become part of their collective ‘Life’ together, and if he could have many, many more mornings like this, then it was worth every decision, every challenge that had brought him here.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think <3
> 
> I adore the concept of Poly Defenders, so if you would like to  
> share your headcannons/thoughts, you're welcome to do so  
> in the comment section down below! :)
> 
> \- SunshineGrimes


End file.
